Steffo Rancis' Lightscimtiar
History Lightscimitars were developed around 1000 BBY and in terms of Energy weponsa re relatively new. The Lightscimitar was accidently born when the gravity field generator in a Jedi’s Lightsaber weakened. The generator weakened due to the age of the component, and this led to the blade becoming kinked. The Jedi disregarded it as a failure of an aged component, and took to ensuring the re-design of all gravity field generators. It was the Sith who actually heard of the failure of the gravity field generator, and it was the Sith Order that pioneered the Lightscimitar originally. They saw that the kink in the blade, gave the blade a larger surface area, and therefore increased the amount of damage dealt. The Sith experimented with the blade, and actually developed a safe means of constructing a gravity field generator that was deliberately weak. This led to the creation of the Lightscimitar. The weapon was soon put to test, and the Sith Order found the weapon very desirable, as it appealed to their emphasis on power and the blade dealing more damage, thus giving the user an advantage in combat. After the Jedi had faced some designs of the Lightscimitar, some of the more experienced masters came together and developed their own design on the blade. Sith and Jedi Lightscimitars were virtually identical, although fewer Jedi wielded the Lightscimitar as it was seen more as a weapon to deal damage, and therefore didn’t sit with the Jedi ideal or protecting, the Order deemed the weapon more likely to encourage the user to attack. 800 BBY would see the near total disappearance of the blade, accept in archives and schematics. Despite the slight advantage the blade posed it had a major fatal flaw. The weak gravitational field drew much more power from the sabers power source, and thus drained the weapons power far more quickly than a Lightsaber. The weapon was soon abandoned for it’s more reliable and energy efficient brethren the Lightsaber. Application and advantages The slight kink in the blade not only dealt more damage, but it gave the user an advantage in overhead strikes. The slight curve of the blade also could be sued to deflect an unwary opponent’s blade away at unusual and un-predictable angles. The blade however was not easier to wield or use. The weapon handled very differently to a Lightsaber, and wielding it successfully took quite a degree of training. However an accomplished swordsman could wield the Lightscimtiar with devastating results. Using the weapons clear advantage in reach and it’s deceptiveness in angle of defelction to catch opponents of guard. Steffo incorporated into his blade a duel phase mode. This allowed for the blade to rapidly expand from one metre, up to two metres in length at the press of a button. This also added to the capabilities and versatility of the weapon, as well as to Master Rancis’ fighting style. Steffo’s own blade was also a single and complete curve; this gave the blade a better ability to cause an opponent’s blade to slide of the curved blade of the scimitar, yet if the concave opposite side of the blade was used, it was easier to trap an opponent’s blade. The curved design of the blade also made a thrusting attack harder to gauge and block, the blade could effectively pass an attempted block, due to its curved nature and still strike the opponent. Redesign Carried by Steffo Rancis (after 64 BBY) Jedi Master Steffo Rancis would bring the Lightscimitar back to use, in his aim to construct a weapon that suited his needs, his research led him to discovering in the archives about the Lightscimitar its uses and some schematic diagrams for its construction. In 64 ABY Steffo took a regular Lightsaber and tampered with the gravity field generator to create the blades distinguishable kink. Steffo engineered a new type of Lightscimitar. He hand crafted a gravity field generator that rather than kink the blade toward its tip, had the blade become a smooth and even curve, from hilt to tip. Steffo encountered the same problems that his predecessors did, but the problems were greatly increased as this new blade, drew even more power from the power source. Steffo changed the power source of the weapon, from a single power cell, to a series of micro cells. He engineered the cells to hold more energy and for a longer period, the end result was that the power unit could store up to twice as much as a regular power cell. The result was pleasing, yet the blade could still not outlast a Lightsaber, Steffo therefore added a rechargeable cap, which fitted snugly into the base of the hilt. The cap contained a series of micro cells, capable of storing half of the energy required. This allowed the blade to last as long as a regular lightsaber, as the micro cells could be fed with extra power when needed from the cells in the cap. This did mean that both the micro cells in the hilt and those in the energy cap needed to be re-charged, and the weapon still needed to be charged slightly more frequently than the Lightsaber. Category: Melee Weapons Category: Personal Weapons